Large and small companies are jumping on the AI bandwagon. Unfortunately, so are cybercriminals, and they’ve sent AI hunting for security loopholes everywhere. Because AI doesn’t sleep or eat, it hunts 24/7.
Gone are the ridiculous phishing emails full of typos and weird grammar. Today’s AI-generated scams are polished, personalized, and convincing. A fake invoice that looks exactly like your vendor’s. A voice call that sounds like your bank and has your business information. A video that appears to be your own CEO.
Cyberattacks are up nearly 50% in the past year, and small businesses are squarely in the crosshairs — precisely because many don’t have the right defensive preparations.
You don’t need a gigantic budget to protect your company. The best defenses can be simple.
- Turn on multi-factor authentication everywhere — email, banking, cloud tools.
- Train your employees to be on the lookout for phishing and deepfakes, and confirm anything suspicious before proceeding.
- Invest in AI-powered security tools, but ensure they are monitored and controlled by humans.
- Segment your network and apply different access controls to each segment to prevent a breach from spreading.
- Keep all your systems up to date and frequently patched. AI accelerated the vulnerability timeline by discovering issues in a flash and exploiting them.
AI is a tool for everyone, including cybercriminals. The criminals are working faster, so your defenses must work faster too.
Author: Kris Keppeler, a curious writer who finds technology fascinating. Follow her on X (Twitter) @KrisNarrates, on Medium.com @kriskeppeler, and on LinkedIn.
Small Business Solutions 